PSL Grand finals 2014.

Warriors and Leo's Squashing ace to the finals..!!

The Purnatha Warriors breezed past the Smashers to set up a title clash with The Leo's Squashing. The Warriors blanked Yogesh Thube's team 9-0 at Poona Club on Monday,22nd December in the Purnatha Squash League semi-final. While the Leo's Squashing overcame the Blade Killers to march into the finals.

Sriram Rao of the Warriors began the rout of Squashzone Smashers as he defeated Chandramoulli Singh 11-8,11-7,11-4 in the C Division Player match. Then the two powerhouse captains(Aran Thawani and Yogesh Thube) provided another compelling contest, though Aran emerged as the victor as he overcame Yogesh Thube 11-7,11-7,11-8. Aran Thawani doubled the lead to take his team to 6-0 and set out an easy task for Mradul Agarwal, as a set taken by Mradul would secure a final berth for the Warriors.

 

Though, Mradul Agarwal thought on other lines, and he overcame the Over-45 Pune Open Champion to complete the whitewash of the Squashzone Smashers. Mradul Agarwal defeated Dinesh Bothra 12-10,11-3,11-5. In the first set, Mradul made some uncharacteristic errors to allow Dinesh Bothra to go up 10-7 and show some rays of hope to the Smashers; but then he pulled up his socks and saved 3 game balls to shelve away any chances of a comeback by the Smashers. Then Mradul took the last two sets comfortably at 11-3 and 11-5 respectively.

 

In the other semi-final, The Leo's Squashing ousted the Blade Killers 9-1 to extend themselves to 6 wins out of 6 matches. Angad won over Colonel Agnihotri in their B Division match, while both Tapas Piplani and Parag Bansal registered their victories over Colonel Sharma and Colonel Sandhu in their C Division matches to push The Leo's Squashing into the finals. While both Angad and Tapas won in straight games, Colonel Sandhu lived up to his reputation by clinching one game and giving tough fight to Parag Bansal. Even though the odds were stacked heavily against the colonels, they never surrendered a yard without a fight, and were inches away from wins but unfortunately the luck seemed to favour the Leo's Squashing

 

 

The Purnatha Warriors will look forward to finishing the season with the Purnatha Squash League title, though the Leo's Squashing will continue their supreme form in the final. Both of the teams have never faced off each other in this edition of the league, as both were from different pools, and the crowd will expect scintillating action in the final at Poona Club on Tuesday,23rd December 

Vijay storms to Semi-Finals

The top gun of the tournament marched to the semi-finals, as Vijay Kumar overcame the home crowd favourite Abhinav Sinha, to set up a clash with first seed Ravi Dixit. Vijay Kumar eliminated the threat posed by Pune no.1 and giantkiller Abhinav Sinha, in a 30-minute clash. The Puneite was defeated 11-8,11-6,11-3.

There was a massive crowd turnout here at Poona Club for the first quarter-final.The entire squashing group of Pune arrived at Poona Club to egg on Abhinav Sinha against the fourth seed Vijay Kumar. In the first game, there were long, brutal rallies, with both players waiting for the errors out of each other. Vijay Kumar made some unforced errors and handed some loose shots to Abhinav in the beginning of the game. The Puneite took advantage of them and fired some quick winners to lead 6-3. Though the fourth seed denied Abhinav an easy victory, Vijay Kumar reversed the pressure onto the Abhinav, by holding the ball to reduce the response time for Abhinav and pushing Abhinav around the court. This tired out Abhinav and forced the errors out of him to propel Vijay Kumar to 8-6. Vijay Kumar continued in the same fashion to take the set 11-8.

In the second set,Vijay Kumar took an early lead and Abhinav was trailing 1-5. Though both players made uncharacteristic errors and Vijay Kumar had changed his pace and format to startle Abhinav. This allowed Vijay to take the set effortlessly at 11-6.

Later in the third set, Vijay Kumar began to display a completely different style of play as he had changed his tactical strategy to make himself attack on the ball. Vijay Kumar began to volley the shots early at the T, and was pouncing onto the open,loose drives to push the ball into the front corners of the court. Vijay Kumar attacked mercilessly on the shots and was making Abhinav do some gruelling retrievals,which unfortunately yielded little benefit. Vijay Kumar used his soft touch to execute some scintillating drops with precision. Vijay took the set and match comfortably at 11-3 as he took his game a few notches above. Though Abhinav Sinha, who is also ranked 321 in the world rankings played a very mature game and he won the hearts of the crowd,as the crowd gave a standing ovation to the two players.

Vijay Kumar will face first seed Ravi Dixit on Monday,who made it to the semi-finals by a victory over Abhishek Agarwal in the quarter-final. Ravi Dixit was forced into the tie-break into the two sets by Abhishek Agarwal. The first seed overcame Abhishek Agarwal 11-7,12-10,13-11 in a match which was too close for comfort. In the other semi-final which is also on Monday, Gaurav Nandrajog and Sandeep Jangra(the second and the third seeds respectively) are to battle to make it to the final of the prestigious Pune Open Seniors Squash Championship which is also on Tuesday. 

Smashers's Hat-Trick close in on semi-finals

It was a perfect Saturday(6th December) evening for the Squashzone Smashers, as their leader Yogesh Thube blanked Rohan Agarwal at their home ground(Squashzone). Yogesh Thube defeated Rohan Agarwal of Cutting Grass 11-9,11-2,16-14 to win the battle of the captains and to keep his team's hopes of the semi-final berths alive.

When both of these experienced players took to the bright, colourful court of Squashzone, the crowd outside watched the match with enthusiasm and excitement;knowing that the match will be an amazing learning experience. Both of them have never faced each other in this edition of the league, and thus neither of them held the edge over the other .The first set was a very close one with both players being at level with each other for most of the game, though Yogesh Thube cut down on his errors in the later part of the game to win the set 11-9.

The second set was won comfortably by Yogesh,as he attacked the front court more to attain quick points. Yogesh Thube also took the advantage over his opponent,and he intercepted the cross-courts early at the T to push the ball into the front corners by his excellent volley drops. His attacking game which resembled the Egyptian style of play,made Rohan do some gruelling retrievals,though the retrievals did not come of much use. The defending champion of the league took the set 11-2.

The Smashers's captain then looked forward to finishing off the third set in the same fashion, but was forced into the tie-break by Rohan Agarwal. Rohan Agarwal displayed his nerves of steel by making a valiant comeback in the third set,inspite of the previous set 11-2. The crowd outside were sharing the similar intimate feelings with the two players inside,as the crowd had their teeth on their nail when the two players were battling the gruesome tie-break. Though in the end, Yogesh Thube emerged as the champion,and the tension and anxiety faded away from his face to reveal his unbridled happiness.

With this victory, the Squashzone Smashers are leading 9-0 over Cutting Grass with their other victories coming from the contributions of their C Division players:-Parth Agarwal and Chandramoulli Singh,both of them won 3-0 in their respective matches. The Smashers have their fingers crossed for their impending A Division player match which is due on this Thursday, as a triumph in that match will fit as the last nail in the chariot of a complete whitewash over Cutting Grass and also ensure a semi-final berth for the Squashzone Smashers.